Indian Journal of Health and Wellbeing

Anthony K. Nkyi ¹

Affiliations
1 College of Education Studies, University of Cape Coast, GH

Abstract

The current study examined the degree of relationships between Alcohol and Purpose in Life among adolescents in Senior High Schools in Ghana. A sample of 244 students made up of 40.5% males (N= 98) and 59.5% females (N=144) completed demographic questionnaires, the Adolescent Alcohol and Drug Involvement Scale (AADIS) and Purpose in Life test (PIL). The mean age was 18.4 years. Pearson product moment correlation coefficients were performed to determine the relationship between AADIS and PIL and tested at 0.05 alpha level. The results of the analysis of the sample indicate that a significant negative correlation was found between AADIS and PIL, r (242) = -.296, p < .001. This result depicts a negative linear relationship of scores, where the low scores on the AADIS relate to high scores on the PIL test. As one's Alcohol usage decreases, meaningfulness gradually became more salient, and purpose in life is high. The results of the study suggest that health education that provides adolescents opportunities for growth and exploration may be useful tool in the prevention of alcohol use among senior high students in Ghana. It is therefore recommended that drug and alcohol education should be included in the senior high school curriculum to help in Ghana's educational sustainable development.

Keywords

Alcohol, Purpose in Life, Adolescents, Senior High School, Ghana.

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Anthony K. Nkyi ¹

Affiliations
1 Counseling Center, College of Education Studies, University of Cape Coast, GH

Abstract

Post-traumatic stress disorder is increasingly recognized to be a prevalent and disabling disorder in children and adolescents, in both the developed and the developing world. Although there have been important advances in the area of research in understanding the diagnosis and assessment of PTSD in children, there is still an urgent need for further research in this area. This paper focuses on the development of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in a variety of traumatic situations, with particular emphasis to children and adolescence. The history, diagnostic criteria, epidemiology and assessment of PTSD in children are discussed. Some treatments for PTSD in children and implications for health professionals are also suggested.

Keywords

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Children And Adolescents, Diagnosis, Assessment.

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Aziz Ansah ¹, Humphrey Danso Bamfo ², Anthony K. Nkyi ³

Affiliations
1 Department of Mental Health Nursing, School of Nursing and Midwifery, College of Health and Allied Sciences, University of Cape Coast, GH
2 Department of Education and Psychology, Faculty of Educational Foundations, College of Education Studies, University of Cape Coast, GH
3 Department of Guidance and Counselling, Faculty of Educational Foundations, College of Education Studies, University of Cape Coast, GH

Abstract

The study examined non-adherence to psychotropic medications among persons living with mental disorders at the Ankaful Psychiatric Hospital, Ghana. The descriptive cross-sectional design was adopted for the study. The convenience sampling technique was used to select 100 participants for the study. The Morisky Medication Adherence Scale (MMAS-8) by Morisky was adopted for this study. The Cronbach's alpha for the scale was 0.83. Pretest with Crobach's alpha was 0.8. Frequencies, percentages, means and standard deviations and Pearson's correlations were used to analyzethe data. The findings of the study showed that non-adherence to psychotropic medications is relatively prevalent among psychiatric patients at the Ankaful Psychiatric Hospital and that educational level of participants could be used to predict nonadherence to psychotropic medication. Age and marital status were not positively correlated with nonadherence to psychotropic medication. Patients reported that the items outlined on the instrument were not the causative factors for non-adherence to medication. It is recommended that the Ministry of Health (MoH), Ghana Health Services (GHSs) and Mental Health Authorities (MHAs) should sensitize individuals in the community especially mentally ill patients on the need to adhere to the medications.

Keywords

Non-adherence, Psychotropic Medication, Mentally Ill Patients, Psychiatric Disorder.

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